Muskhan Jaan
Google
RAW chicken - Food poisoning & Terrible Experience at Blackstone Steakhouse & Grill – Ruined My Son’s Birthday
We had a Monday night reservation to celebrate my son’s birthday, which was easy to make. Upon arrival, we were greeted and seated promptly, but things quickly went downhill.
We asked to be seated at a booth that was empty, but were told it was reserved. We were promised we’d be moved when another booth opened up. That never happened. Instead, I watched as they cleaned the booth and seated another family there. This was already frustrating, but we remained patient.
Our server spoke so softly that we couldn’t hear her over the loud music, so we had to keep asking her to repeat herself. Then, when our appetizer arrived—jerk chicken nachos—it was a disaster. The nacho chips were dripping with oil, clearly fried in either old or improperly heated oil. There was barely any jerk chicken, just tiny crumbles hidden beneath a layer of low-quality cheese that oozed even more oil. It was inedible. The server offered to replace it, but we decided to send it back and wait for our main courses.
The main dishes arrived quickly, which seemed like a relief at first, but I soon discovered my chicken parmigiana was RAW. I had already eaten half of the chicken before I realized it. I called the server over to show her, and her excuse? “It’s the lighting.” I explained that my daughter’s chicken from her penne Alfredo wasn’t raw, and she was sitting right next to me in the same lighting.
I was horrified and went to the bathroom to try and vomit out what I’d eaten, fearing I’d get sick—which, unfortunately, I did. I now have food poisoning. My son’s birthday was ruined, and the whole family felt terrible that I couldn’t enjoy my meal.
When we were paying, my husband still left a tip, knowing it wasn’t the server’s fault, but I asked her for her name. Her response was shocking: “I’m not allowed to tell you my name according to business policy.” What kind of restaurant refuses to let staff share their names? I then went to the hostess stand to ask, and even they refused to give me the server’s name. After asking for a manager, I was told there wasn’t one. The hostess claimed to be the supervisor, but initially denied that too, giving me the runaround. Finally, after making my son go to the car to grab the receipt, I found out her name. This whole ordeal was completely unnecessary and insulting.
For a high-end steakhouse, this kind of treatment is unacceptable. Even fast food places like Tim Hortons have their staff wear name tags. The fact that your servers can’t give their names or that there was no manager on-site is appalling.
Dimi was the server and Sashi or Sachki was the apparent supervisor. Poor customer service skills for a busy restaurant.
I’ve read other reviews about how the quality at Blackstone is declining, and I completely agree. It seems like students are being hired as chefs and servers, and the quality is suffering as a result. For a restaurant of this supposed caliber, you should be working to fix these issues, responding to negative reviews, and improving your service. There are plenty of other halal steakhouses offering better service and food at a fraction of the price.
Thanks for ruining my son’s birthday.